The length of the SEC’s conference schedule has been widely debated for several years now, and, earlier in August, the league decided to move to nine conference games. While the move was widely praised by fans, it does have its detractors. That includes Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman. Pittman addressed the expanded SEC schedule […]
The length of the SEC’s conference schedule has been widely debated for several years now, and, earlier in August, the league decided to move to nine conference games. While the move was widely praised by fans, it does have its detractors. That includes Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman.
Pittman addressed the expanded SEC schedule at the SEC Teleconference going into Week 1 of the 2025 season. There, he shared his disappointment, arguing it’s just going to bring more losses for teams in the conference.
“The nine-game schedule, certainly, I liked it the way that it was before,” Sam Pittman said. “Honestly, I wasn’t necessarily for the nine-game schedule. I don’t think many of our coaches were. It just brings another loss to our conference, half of them — brings eight losses to the conference. I understand money talks.”
The SEC had been running into growing criticism for its eight-game conference schedule. For many, it compared poorly to the Big Ten, which has long since played nine conference games. On top of that, for fans, their teams would not play everyone in the conference as it continues to expand in size. Now, at nine games, historic rivalries can be protected while also playing every other team in the conference on the road once every four years, which lets fans see the whole conference better.
The nine-game SEC schedule will be implemented in 2026. Along with the nine conference games, SEC teams are going to have to maintain a Power Four or Notre Dame opponent in their non-conference schedule. That is going to make for great games for fans, but a challenge for coaches and teams as they face increasingly difficult schedules.
“I think it will be great for the fans. So, there’s good and bad on both sides, depending on how you’re looking at it. Certainly, we’re keeping our Power Four conference game as well. So, I liked it like it was. We haven’t won the last two national championships,” Pittman said. “But we won a whole bunch of them the way that it was before. So, I liked it the way it was before.”
Pittman pointed to the SEC’s success winning national championships. That’s very real. Going back to the start of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the SEC has won six national championships, the most of any conference. However, those were won by a total of three schools. Only six schools nationally have won a national championship during the CFP era, regardless of the size of the CFP at the time.
For Sam Pittman, he is considered to be on the hot seat at Arkansas. During his first five seasons at Arkansas, he’s 30-31 overall and has a 14-28 record in SEC play. Now, the Razorbacks are looking to build on a 7-5 season where they won the Liberty Bowl in the final season for the SEC playing eight conference games.
Category: General Sports
